George Byron — Byron's Poetical Works

A Fragment 1

When, to their airy hall, my Fathers' voice
Shall call my spirit, joyful in their choice;
When, pois'd upon the gale, my form shall ride,
Or, dark in mist, descend the mountain's side;
Oh! may my shade behold no sculptur'd urns,
To mark the spot where earth to earth returns!
No lengthen'd scroll, no praise-encumber'd stone
            a
         ;
My epitaph shall be my name alone
            2
         :
If that with honour fail to crown my clay
            b
         ,
Oh! may no other fame my deeds repay!

         That, only that, shall single out the spot;
By that remember'd, or with that forgot
            c
         .

      
1803

Footnote 1: Ý There is no heading in the Quarto.
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Footnote a: Ý

No lengthen'd scroll of virtue and renown.

[4to. P. on V. Occ.]
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Footnote 2: Ý In his will, drawn up in 1811, Byron gave directions that "no inscription, save his name and age, should be written on his tomb." June, 1819, he wrote to Murray:

"Some of the epitaphs at the Certosa cemetery, at Ferrara, pleased me more than the more splendid monuments at Bologna; for instance,
'Martini Luigi Implora pace.'
Can anything be more full of pathos? I hope whoever may survive me will see those two words, and no more, put over me."

Life, pp. 131, 398.
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Footnote b: Ý

If that with honour fails,

[4to]
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Footnote c: Ý

But that remember'd, or fore'er forgot.

[4to. P. on V. Occasions.]
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